Media Swaying Values

Stereotypes are seen everywhere throughout society. In many aspects they “serve as messengers about the appropriate social roles and behaviors of men and women” (Hammer 29). In a traditional marriage the male role is provider and the female role is caretaker. Stereotypes are provided through the media and theses images often push females to concentrate on dating while males concentrate on job hunting (31). The Real Housewives of Orange County has clearly represented this depiction for the media because the women’s main goal is to find marriage, but to a man making extravagant amounts of money.

We all like to believe that what we see on television has no affect on us or our values but the truth is, it does! Studies have proven that viewers are continuously being pressured to follow stereotypes they see. For example, Hollywood tends to portray “beautiful is good” and most viewers tend to rate attractive people better than those that are unattractive (34). The Real Housewives of Orange County have not only been influenced by this, but are continuing to influence others to think this way through their appearance on reality television. They have all had countless amounts of Botox and plastic surgery along with the numerous hours they put into working out everyday in order to keep their body in top shape. I know that I can relate to this stereotype because I work out everyday in order to stay fit and when I go out I try to look ‘beautiful’ which is often a definition that I have defined based on the media.

I’ve always thought I just did these things because I liked them, which in some aspects may be the case, but in most cases the image making me feel good about myself has been portrayed in the media and forced in to my brain. I cannot speak for everyone, but I know that people in today’s world are always trying to lose weight or buy what is in and I think there are two forces driving this engine, the media and the opposite sex. We want to be as happy as those are in the media, so we try to embody their lifestyles. In many cases this happiness can be driven simply by a woman feeling some sort of recognition from the opposite sex.

The ladies in The Real Housewives of Orange County are conforming to many media driven stereotypes, but are also creating their own. In the media Hammer found that, “women were still more often than not, found in the passive role and quite often seen wearing an apron” (32). These housewives were clearly influenced by this image because their lives were based around finding the man to support them while they ‘wear the apron’. Now that these women have their own reality show they can influence young girls to have those same ambitions in life. These ambitions fall in line with a traditional marriage and are moving the concept of an independent working mother backwards.